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JOINT CIRCULAR No

JOINT CIRCULAR No. 13/1999/TTLT/BLDTBXH-BTC-BKHDT OF MAY 8, 1999 GUIDING THE PROVISION OF LOANS FROM THE NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT FUND AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT FUNDS

Pursuant to Resolution No. 120/HDBT of April 11, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) on the policy, orientation and measures for employment in the coming years;

Pursuant to Decree No. 72/CP of October 31, 1995 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Labor Code on employment;

Pursuant to Decision No. 126/1998/QD-TTg of July 11, 1998 of the Prime Minister ratifying the national target program on employment till the year 2000;

To raise the efficiency of the use of the national employment fund, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment hereby jointly guide the implementation as follows:

I. ON LENDING CAPITAL FOR JOB CREATION

1. Subjects entitled to borrowing:

1.1. Family households (including those of the armed forces in army villages, households of workers who have stayed out of job for a long period), and members of mass organizations, associations, that have the demand to borrow capital for self-creation of jobs;

1.2. Production groups, cooperatives, enterprises set up and operating under the Private Enterprise Law or the Company Law, and production and business establishments for the disabled (called collectively the production/business establishments) that have projects for creation of new jobs and attraction of more laborers;

Among the above-mentioned subjects, the female laborers who have lost their jobs shall be given priority to borrow capital.

2. The use of borrowed capital:

2.1. To procure machinery, equipment, means of transport or fishing aquatic and marine products for expansion and raising the capacity of production and business;

2.2. To supplement capital for the purchase of raw materials, materials, plant and animal strains; costs of tending plants and reared animals till they yield fruits.

3. Conditions for being provided with loans:

3.1. The family households must have the permanent residence registered in localities where projects shall be implemented, file their application for borrowing capital to the project owners (for projects with many borrowing households); if being the legal persons, they must have capital-borrowing projects compatible with the production and business lines inscribed in their business licenses;

3.2. Collective projects must be guaranteed by trust of the presidents of the commune/ward People’s Committees (for commune/ward-level projects), the presidents of the urban/rural district People’s Committees (for district-level projects) or the heads of district-level mass organizations for projects managed by mass organizations or associations;

3.3. Production and business establishments must have assets for mortgage when borrowing capital.

4. Capital amounts to be lent:

4.1. For family households, the maximum lending amount for each shall not exceed 10 million VN dong; at least, new job must be created for a person or the working time must be increased correspondingly to that spent by a laborer;

4.2. For projects with many borrowing households, the lending amount depends on the number of households implementing a project, but the maximum amount borrowed by each household shall not exceed 10 million VN dong;

4.3. For projects of production and/or business establishments, the maximum lending amount shall not exceed 300 million VN dong and shall not exceed 10 million VN dong per a new working post.

5. Lending terms:

5.1. The 12-month term:

- Rearing domestic animals and poultry;

- Aquaculture;

- Food and/or subsidiary crops cultivation.

5.2. The 24-month term:

- Rearing meat cattle and specialty animal;

- Planting short-term industrial crops, pharmaceutical herbs, ornamental plants...;

- Cottage industry and handicraft production.

5.3. The 36-month term:

- The procurement of machinery, equipment, water and land transport means of small and medium sizes, fishing gears,…

- Raising cattle for offspring, dairy, hair, horns;

- Planting perennial fruit trees;

- Planting long-term industrial plants.

If a project has a production cycle longer than the lending term and has been implemented as approved, it may be considered for continued loan until the harvest.

6. The lending interest rate:

- Principle: Being lower than the Commercial Bank’s interest rates. The specific rate for each period shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance after consulting with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

- The earned interests shall be used to cover the management costs, to make up for the force majeure risk, and the remainder, if any, shall be supplemented to the lending fund.

7. Project elaboration:

- Subjects entitled to borrow capital shall have to elaborate projects (according to set forms).

- The projects must be certified by the administration of the localities where the projects shall be implemented.

- A subject is allowed to borrow from a certain source.

8. Loan evaluation:

8.1. At the district level (including urban and rural districts, provincial capitals and towns).

- The district Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Sections shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the State Treasury in organizing the evaluation of projects and inscribing in the project-evaluating papers; synthesize and submit them to the presidents of the district People’s Committees for consideration, and write the loan recommendations on the sum-up papers;

- The time-limit for the district-level evaluation shall be 15 days at most after receiving the project dossiers.

8.2. In provinces and centrally-run cities (collectively called the province)

The provincial/municipal Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Services shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the State Treasury in examining and considering all project dossiers and re-evaluating projects (when necessary), synthesize and submit them to the presidents of the provincial People’s Committees for decision. The time-limit for loan evaluation and decision shall not exceed 15 days after receiving the project dossiers.

8.3. For projects managed by central committees of mass organizations and associations:

- The mass organizations of the provincial level shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the State Treasury and the provincial/municipal Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Services in evaluating projects and submit them to their superior bodies. The time-limit for the evaluation of a project shall not exceed 25 days after receiving the project dossier;

- The central committees of the mass organizations and associations shall consider and decide the loans. The time-limit therefor shall not exceed 15 days after receiving the project dossiers.

8.4. The loan decisions of the provincial People’s Committees or Central Committees of mass organizations and association and the sum-up report on the projects to be provided with loans shall be addressed to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Central State Treasury (immediately after their issuance) for synthesis, monitoring and management. The decisions shall clearly state the sources of lending capital.

9. Transfer of loan capital:

- Basing itself on the quotas and the plan for capital transfer (for localities) or the loan decisions (for central committees of mass organizations and associations), the Ministry of Finance shall carry out the procedures to allocate capital to the central State Treasury in the form of money order as sources of loan capital.

- The central State Treasury shall base itself on the capital transfer notice of the Ministry of Finance to transfer, within 5 days, the capital to the State Treasury in localities where the approved projects shall be implemented for the provision of loans as prescribed.

10. Distributing loan money:

10.1. Basing itself on the loan decisions of the competent levels, the State Treasury in locality where loan money is distributed shall have to guide the capital borrowers to fill in the procedures for mortgaging their property or making loan guarantee, then sign with the borrowers credit contracts as prescribed in the Ministry of Finance’s Lending Regulation.

10.2. Within 10 days after receiving the loan decisions, the State Treasury shall have to directly distribute the money to the borrowers. For a project with many borrowers, the State Treasury may entrust the project owner to distribute loan money to households. The entrustment must ensure that the capital source is well managed and recovered fully and in time for the national fund for employment promotion.

10.3. For projects which have already been approved but cannot be provided with loans, the State Treasury shall have to promptly report to the loan decision-issuing agencies for consideration and settlement.

11. Debt extension, re-lending:

11.1. Debt extension:

- For projects where debts become due while their production cycles have not yet yielded results and the project owners wish to extend their debts, they shall have to submit their application, clearly stating the reasons therefor as well as solutions thereto to the lending State Treasury for consideration and settlement.

- Basing itself on the debt extension application, the State Treasury shall inspect and decide the debt extension. The extension duration shall not exceed 06 months.

11.2. Re-lending:

- For projects which have the production and/or business cycles longer than the lending terms, have used the borrowed capital for the right purposes and with efficiency and the project owners wish to prolong their loans for a period of time in order to maintain production and create stable jobs for the laborers, before the debts become due, the project owners shall have to make a report on the use of loan capitals and the application for re-borrowings.

- The process for re-lending evaluation and the re-lending competence shall be similar to those for the first-time loan projects but without having to re-elaborate the projects.

- The owners of projects approved for re-loans shall not have to pay the principals of the previous loans but to pay the interests thereon when filling in the procedures for re-loans. To ensure the continuity of the capital using process, all the procedures for approving the re-loans must be completed before the debt payment deadlines.

- For subjects wishing to borrow more capital for the expansion of their production and/or business and attraction more laborers, the project owners shall have to acquire documents to prove it and send them to the relevant agencies for settlement according to the first-loan approving procedures.

12. Recovering capital and using the recovered capital:

- The State Treasury shall recover due debts; the project owners may return their debts ahead of time.

- The recovered capital shall be re-lent to projects managed by localities, mass organizations or associations.

- The provincial People’s Committees and the central committees of mass organizations and associations shall draw up capital-using plans and approve projects commensurate to the amount of capital recovered monthly or quarterly; and shall not leave capital unused in the State Treasury.

- In cases where it is necessary to readjust the sources of loan capital among localities and mass organizations as well as associations or recover them to the central State Treasuries, the ministries jointly issuing this Circular shall issue guiding documents thereon.

13. Handling projects with overdue debts:

- Loan debts turned overdue not because of force majeure and not belonging to subjects entitled to debt extension or re-loans must be fully returned to the State Treasury by the project owners.

- If after 3 months from the date the debt is made overdue, a project owner, though urged to pay the debt, still deliberately delays the debt payment, the State Treasury shall transfer the lending dossiers to the competent State agency proposing the auction of mortgaged property according to the current regulations in order to recover capital or the examination for penal liability if the case is serious.

II. SETTING UP, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF LOCAL EMPLOYMENT FUNDS

1. The local employment funds constitute part of the national employment support fund, which are channeled from the annual local budgets (the provincial State budget) and other sources reserved for employment. The funds are managed through the State Treasury.

2. Annually, the provincial People’s Committees shall base themselves on the local budget capability and employment demand to channel part of the local budget estimates for the setting up of the employment funds then submit them to the provincial People’s Councils for decision.

3. Using funds:

3.1. As loans to job creation projects:

- To reserve 80-85% of the fund’s source as loan capital for the creation of jobs. The management and provision of loans shall comply with the guidance in Section I of this Circular.

- Basing themselves on the approved plan quotas of loan capital supplemented annually to the job creation, the provincial Finance-Pricing Services shall transfer capital to the provincial State Treasury in the form of money order as the loan capital sources.

3.2. Capital support:

To reserve about 15-20% of the fund’s source to provide material foundation support for employment service centers, as well as projects for job-training, agricultural-forestry-fishery promotion and program management from the grassroots to the province.

III. RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS OF AGENCIES

1. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in drawing up plans for new allocation of budget estimates and for the use of recovered capital for each Central Committee of a mass organization or association and each locality so that the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall synthesize and submit them to the Government for consideration and decision;

- Coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in studying the elaboration of a mechanism to manage and use the national employment support fund according to the set objectives of the program;

- Inspect and evaluate the results of using the employment support fund and biannually report them to the Prime Minister.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in formulating the mechanism for managing and operating the national employment support fund; guiding localities to elaborate and effect mechanism for management of their local employment funds according to the regulations in this Circular;

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in drawing up new budget estimates for the program and incorporate them into the annual budget plans and submit them to the Government for consideration and the National Assembly for decision;

- Provide new budget for the national employment support fund according to the approved budget estimates;

- Inspect and supervise the management and use of such funds.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall:

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in drawing up new budget allocation estimates for the program, synthesize and incorporate them in the common annual budget estimate of the State and submit them to the Government for consideration and the National Assembly for decision;

- Synthesize the plans for allocation of new budget estimates and annually recovered capital to Central Committees of mass organizations and associations as well as localities, then submit them to the Government for consideration and assignment of implementation plans;

- Join in the study and elaboration of the mechanism to manage and operate the national employment support fund and to inspect and supervise the implementation strictly according to the objectives of the program.

4. The Central Committees of mass organizations and associations shall:

- Organize the implementation and management of the national employment support fund’s capital assigned to them;

- Allocate to provincial-level mass organizations and associations the plan quotas on loan capital (including newly supplemented capital, recovered capital) and the employment quotas assigned by the Government;

- Guide the local mass organizations and associations at all levels to draw up plans for capital borrowing as prescribed;

- Consider and decide loans to projects under their management;

- Direct local mass organizations and associations at all levels to strictly comply with the mechanism and policies on the provision of loan capital from the national employment support fund; inspect and evaluate the situation and implementation results, and quarterly, biannually and annually report them to the ministries which have jointly issued this Circular.

5. The Central State Treasury shall:

- Guide the lending procedures;

- Direct the subordinate State Treasuries to carry out the lending procedures in a strict, simple and trouble-free manner for people;

- Manage, sum up and distribute interests according to regulations;

- Report every quarter, six months, nine months and year on the situation and results of the provision of loans from the national employment support fund to the said ministries.

6. In localities:

6.1. The provincial/municipal People’s Committees shall:

- Assign employment and loan capital quotas to the district People’s Committees;

- Organize the implementation and management of employment capital assigned by the Government;

- Examine and evaluate the implementation of employment capital sources in localities and quarterly, biannually and annually report it to the said ministries.

6.2. The provincial/municipal Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Services shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the provincial Finance-Pricing Services as well as Planning and Investment Services in drawing up plans for allocation of new budget estimates and recovered capital to each district, each mass organization so that the provincial Finance-Pricing Services and Planning and Investment Services synthesize and submit them to the provincial People’s Committees for consideration and decision;

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the provincial State Treasuries to examine and evaluate capital borrowing projects and submit to the provincial People’s Committees for consideration and decision; take the prime responsibility for the objectives and subjects of the capital borrowings; assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with concerned agencies in settling projects affected by risks according to regulations; examine and evaluate the results of the provision of loan capital from the national employment fund;

- Guide subjects in their respective localities to draw up plans for capital borrowing;

- Guide employment service centers to draw up plans for support in job training equipment and employment services; assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the provincial Finance-Pricing Services as well as Planning and Investment Services in organizing the evaluation of projects to be submitted to the provincial People’s Committees;

- Propagate for the objectives, contents and policies of the National Target Program for Employment.

6.3. The provincial/municipal Finance-Pricing Services shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the provincial Planning and Investment Services to draw up new local budget estimates (the provincial or municipal budget) to be annually allocated to the program and submit them to the provincial People’s Committees for consideration and to the provincial People’s Councils for decision;

- Coordinate with the provincial Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in drawing up plans for distribution of new budget estimate allocations and the recovered capital to each district and mass organization so as to synthesize and submit them to the provincial People’s Committees for consideration and assignment of implementation plans;

- Guide and examine the settlement of the use of interest funds by program-managing agencies in their respective localities;

- Coordinate with the State Treasury in determining the price of the mortgaged property.

6.4. The provincial/municipal Planning and Investment Services shall:

- Coordinate with the provincial Finance-Pricing Services in proposing the level of deduction for the establishment of employment fund from the annual local budget and submit them to the provincial People’s Committees and People’s Councils for consideration and decision;

- Coordinate with the provincial Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Services and Finance - Pricing Services in the allocation of plan quotas on employment and loan capital (from the central and local budgets) to districts and mass organizations, and submit them to the provincial People’s Committees for consideration and decision;

- Coordinate with concerned agencies in examining and evaluating the situation and results of the provision of loans from the national employment support fund.

6.5. The provincial/municipal State Treasury shall:

- Coordinate with the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs bodies, mass organizations and associations in examining and evaluating capital borrowing projects; organize the allocation of loan money and the recovery of due debts; take the prime responsibility for the borrowing conditions and amount as well as the capital-using purposes;

- Coordinate with the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs agencies and concerned bodies in handling projects subject to force majeur and overdue debts, then submit them to the competent bodies for decision;

- Distribute earned interests according to regulations; coordinate with the provincial/municipal Finance-Pricing Services in examining and synthesizing the final settlement of the use of interest-derived funds of the program-managing bodies in the locality;

- Monthly and quarterly report on the situation of loan provision and debt recovery to the local steering board for employment and the superior State Treasury (under guidance of the Central State Treasury).

IV. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. The People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and the Central Committees of mass organizations and associations shall base themselves on the guidance in this Circular to direct functional agencies to carry out activities related to the National Target Program on Employment under their management scope; step up the capital-lending tempo, handle in time arising problems, strictly manage the capital and use it for the right purposes and with efficiency.

2. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall direct their respective professional systems to implement this Circular.

3. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing. All previous documents guiding the borrowing of capital for small projects on employment under Resolution No. 120/HDBT of April 11, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) now cease to be effective.

Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the ministries of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Finance; and Planning and Investment for study and settlement.

For the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

Vice Minister

NGUYEN LUONG TRAO

For the Minister of Finance

Vice Minister

NGUYEN THI KIM NGAN

For the Minister of Planning and Investment

Vice Minister

PHAN QUANG TRUNG